Supplemental power
We got the generator working today, but we're low on
fuel.
The current plan is to run it
for about 90 minutes after dinner each night.
No problems with the phone
line, which is why we can keep up the blogging.
Plenty of firewood and food
along with books and cats should keep us warm and happy. The water
seems to be going down and maybe we can get out tomorrow or Sunday for
more fuel and fruit.
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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We shall soon find out.... Our Christmas experiment in 2009 suggests we might get three hours out of it, which would mean tonight and tomorrow night. We've got some other gas in the barn with ethanol in it, so we'll have to decide whether to risk that if we can't get out by Sunday.
How long does yours run on a gallon?
After having experienced one 3-day power outage just before Christmas, I feel for the 2 of you. At least we could get into town by driving down the driveway in 4-wheel drive.
It is an experience that I enjoy with the quiet of no TV or the buzz of the frig and heater systems.
Enjoy while you can, the real world will be on your door step soon.
Do you have any Stabil fuel stabilizer around? I struggle to find ethanol-free fuel near my forest place. I just dump in Stabil and my generator runs like a dream. Without it, my generator is unhappy and sputters/dies unless the fuel is right out of the pump. (My little generator is 30 years old though . . . don't know if that is better or worse with regards to the ethanol content.)
My father has recommended to get in the habit of always adding Stabil to the fuel at that place, regardless of whether I will use it within a week or not - the humidity levels are so high (at least during the winter rains.) Maybe you already do; but I noticed an immediate difference in my generator's performance.